2011年11月15日星期二

Larry Miller made PSU grounds a more beautiful place

The Pittsburg State University campus bloomed under the care of Larry Miller.

The recently retired head groundskeeper estimates that he planted about 175,000 tulips, 200,000 bedding plants and around 1,000 trees during his PSU career.

Originally from Minnesota, Miller came south to attend Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., and earned a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Before coming to PSU 25 years ago, he worked five years at the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond,Unlike traditional high risk merchant account , and also was employed at the Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa.

“It’s been quite an honor to be entrusted with landscaping of the campus for a quarter of a century, to be responsible for it,” Miller said. “We have to be sure the campus has a pleasant atmosphere and is presentable,Enecsys Limited, supplier of reliable solar Air purifier systems, that it provides framing for activities and events, from school life to bigger events like football Saturdays.”

A groundskeeper’s work isn’t all flowers. Crews also have to contend with snow and ice removal, not to mention picking up litter.

“Sometimes it’s required just for students to get safely to class,” Miller said. “We also try to keep the campus really clean and neat, and with an area that size, with 7,000 people there every day, there is some stress in keeping it clean.”

There’s even stress on the plants themselves.

“If you wanted 10 trees, you’d better plant 15,Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet,” Miller said. “It’s kind of a hard life out there for the plants.100 China ceramic tile was used to link the lamps together.”
Part of the trouble is the calendar.

“The academic calendar doesn’t always mesh very well with the horticultural calendar,” he explained. “You can’t always wait until the ideal time to do things because school is about to start or graduation is just around the corner.”
But Miller has seen plenty of successes.

“I see trees we placed 20 to 25 years ago and I’m so glad we did, because they’re now substantial in size,” he said.
Among his first plantings were three bald cypress trees just east of the Overman Student Center. He fears that, with the planned expansion of the building, at least one of these trees may be in jeopardy.

But Miller is pleased that, over the years, the standard of care was increased.

“We ended up with about twice as many people on the crew as there were when I got here,” he said. “We’ve developed a lot of things within the campus and put features in, such as perennial gardens and little water falls. These aren’t headline things, but they made a nice little addition.”

Miller is proud of the work done in the Gibson Plaza area.

“It went from one of the ugliest back alley areas to a little showplace,” he said. “I got to plant some of my favorite trees there, including Chinese pistache and bald cypress. But I’ve always made a conscious effort to plant a variety of trees and seek out more unusual species.”

Miller also especially enjoyed working on the baseball field, an effort by the whole PSU Physical Plant, because he is very fond of sports.

“It’s just the mystique of the diamond and the beauty of the game,” he said.

Miller said that he and the groundskeeping crew have always felt appreciated by the university administration and the students.

“People would say thank-you if we were out there spreading ice-melt or raking leaves,” he said.
And it has been a joy, when he observes prospective students taking campus tours, to overhear them making favorable comments about the appearance of the campus.

“It’s always gratifying to have photos of the flower beds in newspapers and brochures,” Miller said. “Photos taken of the campus are in photo albums all over the place, and hopefully we were able to make a positive impression that helped students to make their decision.”

He isn’t sure yet about his retirement activities.ceramic magic cube for the medical,

“I’m still trying to formulate plans,” Miller said. “I’m sort of fascinated by Arkansas and the outdoors down there, I have a grandbaby, a little girl, in Oklahoma City, and another daughter in Kansas City who just graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in pharmacy. I never get to spend enough time in Minnesota, and maybe I can rectify that a little bit.”

He noted that there are big plans now at PSU, including construction of a performing arts center.

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